🕋 تفسير سورة الأحزاب
(Al-Ahzab) • المصدر: EN-ASBAB-AL-NUZUL-BY-AL-WAHIDI
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ اتَّقِ اللَّهَ وَلَا تُطِعِ الْكَافِرِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
📘 (O Prophet! Keep thy duty to Allah and obey not the disbelievers and the hypocrites�) [33:1]. This verse was revealed about Abu Sufyan, �Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl and Abu�l-A�war al-Sulami [�Amr ibn Sufyan]. After the fighting at Uhud, they travelled to Medina and stayed as guests at �Abd Allah ibn Ubayy�s. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, had allowed them to come to speak with him with his assurance of protection. They went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, accompanied by �Abd Allah ibn Sa�d ibn Abi Sarh and Tu�mah ibn Ubayriq. They said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, who had �Umar ibn al-Khattab with him: �Reject the mention of our idols al-Lat, al-�Uzza and Manat and say that they have benefit and the power of intercession for those who worship them, and we will leave you alone with your Lord!� Their words hurt the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. �Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be well pleased with him, said: �Let me kill them, O Messenger of Allah!� The Prophet said: �I have given them my assurance of protection�, upon which �Umar said to them: �Leave with Allah�s curse and wrath upon you�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded �Umar to drive them out of Medina, and then Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed this verse.
هُنَالِكَ ابْتُلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَزُلْزِلُوا زِلْزَالًا شَدِيدًا
📘 There it was that the faithful were tried and shaken with an intense shaking. MuṣṬafā reported that the Real undertakes to try His friends, just as you undertake to give food and drink to the ill. He said that in the highest paradises there are many degrees and domiciles that the servants can never reach by their own effort. The trials that the Exalted Lord assigns to them in this world convey them there. A report has come that one day God's Messenger was gazing at the sky and laughing. He said that he was marveling at the lordly ruling and the divine decree concerning the faithful servants: If He commands blessings for them, they approve, and their good lies in that. If He commands trial, they approve, and their goods lies in that. In other words, they are patient in trial, they show gratitude for blessings, and in both they find the good. It has been said that the Real divided Adam's progeny into one thousand kinds and let them look at the carpet of love. The desire for love rose up in all of them. Then He adorned this world and displayed it to them. When they saw its embellishments and splendors, they became drunk and entranced and remained with this world, except for one group, who stayed on love's carpet and stuck up their heads in their claim. Then He divided this group into one thousand kinds and displayed the afterworld to them. When they saw the everlasting joy and bliss, the spreading shade and pouring water [56:30-31], the houris and the castles, they were entranced by it and stayed with it, except for one group who stayed on the carpet and sought the treasuries of recognizing Him. The address came from the side of all-compellingness, the Exalted Threshold, “What are you seeking and why are you staying?” They said, “Surely Thou knowest what we desire [11:79]. O Lord! You are the tongue of the tongueless, You are the knower of the secrets and the hidden. You Yourself know what we want.” We have a reckoning other than that of the world's folk, we have an intoxicant other than wine. The Exalted Lord took them to the top of the street of trial and showed them its deserts and perils.
مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ ۖ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا
📘 (Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah�) [33:23]. Abu Muhammad Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Humayd> Makki ibn 'Abdan> 'Abd Allah ibn Hashim> Bahz ibn Asad> Sulayman ibn al-Mughirah> Thabit> Anas who said: �My uncle Anas ibn al-Nadr - after whom I was named Anas - failed to take part in the Battle of Badr. When he returned, he was extremely pained that he did not participate in Badr. He said: 'I was absent from the first battle fought by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. By Allah, if Allah, glorified and exalted is He, enables me to take part in any future fighting, He will see what I will do!' At the Battle of Uhud, when the Muslims were exposed, he said: 'O Allah, I exonerate myself from that which these idolaters have brought and seek Your pardon from what these - i.e. the Muslims - have done'. He then proceeded with the sword in his hand. On the way, he met Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and said to him: 'O Sa'd, by Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I can smell the scent of the Garden by Uhud'. He fought the idolaters until he was killed. We found him among the dead. He had suffered eighty something wounds, ranging from a blow with the sword, a stab with spear to a hit by a arrow. They mutilated him to the extent that we did not recognise him. It was his sister who identified him by his finger. This verse was then revealed (Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah�). We used to say: 'This verse was revealed about him and his fellow Muslims [who died fighting]' �. Narrated by Muslim from Muhammad ibn Hatim from Bahz ibn Asad. Sa'id ibn Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Abu 'Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Faqih> Ibrahim ibn 'Abd Allah al-Zabibi> Bundar> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari> his father> Thumamah> Anas ibn Malik who said: �This verse was revealed about Anas ibn al-Nadr (Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Bundar. (Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting�) [33:23].
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
📘 God desires only to put away from you filth, O Folk of the House, and to make you com- pletely pure. The Lord of the Worlds is laying a favor on MuṣṬafā the Arab: “Our wish and Our decree is for the folk of your house to be pure of all the defilements of createdness and the stains of mortal nature so that everything in the house will be like the lord of the house: The goodly women are for the goodly men, and the goodly men for the goodly women [24:26].” It has been said that here filth is vile acts and base character traits. Vile acts are indecencies, both the outward and the inward [6:151], and base character traits are caprice, innovation, nig- gardliness, avarice, severing blood relations, and the like. In their case the Lord of the Worlds replaced innovation with the Sunnah, niggardliness with munificence, avarice with contentment, and severance from relatives with joining and tenderness. Then He says, “And to make you completely pure:” And to keep you pure from admiring yourselves, or considering yourselves pointers to God's door, or gazing upon your own obedience and deeds. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “The gaze is two, the human gaze and the All-Merciful gaze. The human gaze is that you look at yourself. The All-Merciful gaze is that the Real looks at you. As long as the human gaze does not pack its bags from your makeup, the All-Merciful gaze will not descend into your heart.” Poor wretch, why do you look at your own tainted obedience? How can you measure that against the threshold of His utter lack of needs? Are you unaware that if you gather the deeds of all the sincerely truthful in the earth and the obedient acts of all the holy ones in heaven, these will not have the weight of a gnat's wing in the scales of the majesty of the Majestic? But He, in His unneediness, approves servanthood in the servants and shows them the road. God is gentle to His servants [42:19]. He says, “Look at My gentleness, consider mercy as coming from Me, and ask for blessings from Me. But ask God of His bounty [4:32].”
إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْقَانِتَاتِ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالصَّادِقَاتِ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّابِرَاتِ وَالْخَاشِعِينَ وَالْخَاشِعَاتِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقَاتِ وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِ وَالْحَافِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَالْحَافِظَاتِ وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
📘 Surely submitted men and submitted women, faithful men and faithful women, devout men and devout women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, charitable men and charitable women, fasting men and fasting women, men who guard their private parts and women who guard, men who remember God much and women who remember-God has prepared for them forgiveness and a tremendous wage. In this verse, the Lord of the Worlds makes clear for His servants the way stations of traveling on the road of the religion. Then in His gentleness He praises them for their traveling and with His mercy He gives them a tremendous wage and a generous reward. He Himself shows the road, He keeps them traveling, and then He praises the servants for that. Here you have generosity and gentleness! Here you have mercy and clemency! Submitted men and submitted women. They are Muslims, having placed the rulings of the Shariah on their necks and having thrown themselves into the road of the Haqiqah. Faithful men and faithful women. They are the faithful through attesting with the tongue, assenting to the truth from the depth of the spirit, and acting with the limbs. Devout men and devout women. They are those who act with obedience and observe the commands, who by day are in the work of the religion and by night drunk with the wine of certainty. Truthful men and truthful women. They are truthful in both speaking and acting, in both compact and covenant. Patient men and patient women. They are patient at the descent of trials and unexpected decrees. Humble men and humble women. They are the broken and the lowly, approving of the decree and standing on the feet of incapacity before the ruling power of the Haqiqah. Charitable men and charitable women. They are the bestowers of their possessions and themselves; they do not put aside anyone's rightful due against them and have left the road of antagonism toward people. Fasting men and fasting women. They hold themselves back from the unworthy, they are silent toward what is displeasing by the decree of the Tariqah, and they keep the fast according to the Shariah. Men who guard their private parts and women who guard. They watch over their outwardness so that they do not fall into the forbidden, and they guard over their inwardness so that they do not see the creatures.
مَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِنْ قَلْبَيْنِ فِي جَوْفِهِ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَزْوَاجَكُمُ اللَّائِي تُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْهُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَاءَكُمْ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ قَوْلُكُمْ بِأَفْوَاهِكُمْ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَقُولُ الْحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهْدِي السَّبِيلَ
📘 (Allah hath not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body�) [33:4]. This verse was revealed about Jamil ibn Ma'mar al-Fihri who was a sensible man who memorised whatever he heard. The Quraysh said: �He could not have memorised all these things unless he had two hearts�. Labib used to say: �I have two hearts and my perception by means of either one of them is better than the perception of Muhammad�. When the Battle of Badr took place and the idolaters were defeated, Abu Sufyan met Jamil ibn Ma'mar, who had accompanied the idolaters. Jamil was wearing one shoe and holding the other shoe in his hand. Abu Sufyan asked him: �What is the state of people?� He said: �They were defeated�. Abu Sufyan asked him again: �But why are you wearing one shoe and holding the other in your hand?� Jamil said: �I thought I was wearing both shoes�. On that day, people knew that he would not have forgotten his shoe in his hand if he really had two hearts. (hath He made those whom ye claim (to be your sons) your sons) [33:4]. This verse was revealed about Zayd ibn Harithah. He was a slave of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, but he freed him and adopted him before he was sent as a Prophet. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Zaynab bint Jahsh, who was the divorcee of Zayd ibn Harithah, the Jews and hypocrites said: �Muhammad has married the wife of his son while forbidding people from doing the same!� And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Sa'id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Nu'aym al-Ishkabi informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Makhlid> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> Qutaybah ibn Sa'id> Ya'qub ibn 'Abd al-Rahman> Musa ibn 'Uqbah> Salim> 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar who used to say: �We did not use to call Zayd ibn Harithah with any other name except Zayd ibn Muhammad until the Qur'an revealed (Proclaim their real parentage. That will be more equitable in the sight of Allah) [33:5]�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Mu'alla ibn Asad> 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn al-Mukhtar> Musa ibn 'Uqbah.
مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا
📘 MuḤammad is not the father of any of your men, but rather the messenger of God and the seal of the prophets. This is a reminder bestowing the recognition, and an explanation declaring the eminence, of the paragon of the world and master of the children of Adam, the pearl of felicity and the foundation of mastery, the kiblah of prosperity and the kaabah of hopes, MuḤammad MuṣṬafā, the eminence of whose messengerhood is bound to the Beginningless and the exaltation of whose good fortune is joined with the Endless. The pulpit and mihrab are adorned with his name. The pillars of the religion and the foundations of belief were laid down by his explanation and clarification. That paragon was outwardly all ease and inwardly all comeliness. His expressions were eloquence, his secret core love. His spirit was from the light of exaltedness, his curtain the divine jealousy. His customs were the Shariah, his robe of honor intercession. Although God stripped the name of fatherhood from him, he was more tender and more lovingly kind than any father. He said, “For you I am like a father toward his children.” It has been said that his tenderness toward his community is greater than that of fathers, but God did not call him the father of the community because of what preceded in the beginningless decree, the lordly judgment, and the divine predetermination. This is the fact that on the Day of Resurrection-in that greatest gathering place and most tremendous exposure, when the pavilion of all-subjugatingness is pitched, the carpet of tremendousness spread, the scales of justice hung, the prison of chastisement brought out from the veil, spirits come to the throat, eloquent tongues become dumb, all excuses nullified, and all relationships cut-it is then that all fathers will flee from their children, as the Exalted Lord said: “On the day a man will flee from his brother, his mother, his father” [80:34]. Adam, who is the father of all, will come forth and say, “Lord God, let Adam go, and as for his children, You know what You will do.” Noah will say the same, Abraham the same; Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets the same. All will tremble from the harshness of the rising and the terror of the resurrection. They will be helpless for themselves and will not attend to their children.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا
📘 O you who have faith, remember God with much remembrance! In terms of allusion what is understood from this verse is calling people to love the Real, for MuṣṬafā said, “When someone loves something, he remembers it much.” The mark of friendship is plentiful remembrance. Friendship does not let the tongue be at ease from remembrance or the heart be empty of remembrance. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “The remembrance of the Friend is the portion of the yearners. It is the brightness of the eyes, the good fortune of the spirit, and the adornment of the world. An iota's increase in friendship is better than the two worlds. One breath in companionship with the Friend is the everlasting kingdom-exalted is the servant who is worthy of that! What is this work? For it has no name and no mark. It is the servant's occupation, but hidden from the servant. The servant is unable to bear it but stretches out to reach it. By God, he who seeks it is joyful in the midst of fire.” Though Your hand be fire, it is my bed of roses. All that comes from You is sweet, whether healing or pain.
هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَائِكَتُهُ لِيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۚ وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيمًا
📘 (He it is Who blesseth you, and His angels�) [33:43]. Mujahid said: �When the verse (Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet) [33:56], Abu Bakr said: �Allah, exalted is He, has not given you any good except that made us partake of it�. Then, this verse (Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet) was revealed�.
تَحِيَّتُهُمْ يَوْمَ يَلْقَوْنَهُ سَلَامٌ ۚ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًا كَرِيمًا
📘 Their greeting on the day they encounter Him will be “Peace.” Wait until this poor man reaches the house of good fortune in the Endless. Delay and lingering will let loose the foot of compassion. The clouds of gentleness will rain down generosity, the sun of union will shine from the rising place of finding, and the eyes, heart, and spirit, all three, will gaze upon the Friend. In the report has come, “The eyes will be filled with gazing on His face and He will speak to them as a man speaks to his sitting companion.” When an eye has seen Him, how will it busy itself with glancing at others? When a spirit has found companionship with Him, how will it make do with water and dust? When someone has become accustomed to the Exalted Presence, how will he put up with the abasement of the veil? How will the ruler of his own city spend his life in exile? In this world of exile, you become weary because you must say, “Give us ease, O Bilāl,” for the crowd. [DS 34] Their greeting on the day they encounter Him will be “Peace.” Tomorrow this caress and rank, this endless good fortune, will be suited for someone who today is separate from the attributes of his own being. All attributes of selfhood are bonds, every bond is a color, and the chevaliers disdain every color. He who painted a thousand worlds with color- why would He buy my color or yours, O bankrupt man! Why do you paint yourself, poor wretch! Self-painting has no worth. Why do you adorn yourself? Self-adornment has no value. Let it go, so that He adorned it in your hearts [49:7] may adorn you without you. Let it go, and then He loves them, and they love Him [5:54] will approve of you without you. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Look from Him to Him, not from self to Him, for the eyes belong to what they saw at first and the heart to the first Friend. Everyone with a chamber in this street knows that this is so. Seeing the Friend is the spirit's law and throwing away life in the Shariah of Friendship is its religion.”
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًا
📘 O Prophet! Surely We sent thee as a witness, a good-news bringer, and a warner, inviting to God by His leave, and a light-giving lamp. “O paragon of the world! O master of the children of Adam! O pride of the Arabs and the Per-sians! O caressed by the gentleness of eternity! O foremost in earth and honored in heaven! You are a paragon whose explications are the arrangement of the necklace of salvation, whose proofs are the untying of the knots of difficulties, whose sayings are the edict of felicities, whose doings are the guidebook of generous acts, whose utterances are the capital of noble qualities, whose glances are the adornment of beautiful deeds”-upon him be the most excellent of prayers and the most ample of felicitations! Surely We sent thee with the truth [2:119]. “We, who are unique in divinity and peerless in unity, separate from creation in Essence and attributes, qualified by magnificence, creator of earth and heaven, shelter of every beggar and comfort of everyone familiar, knower of the secrets of cre- ation and witness of the deeds of all, We sent thee as a witness, a good-news bringer, and a warner. We sent you to the creatures to give news of Our gentleness to the familiar, for they are worthy of caresses, and to warn the strangers, for they are worthy of being melted. Give good news to the friends that the house of felicity has been decorated for them and warn the enemies that the prison of hell has been heated up for them.” And a light-giving lamp. “O paragon! The sun is the lamp of heaven, and you are the lamp of earth. The sun is the lamp of this world, and you are the lamp of the religion. The sun is the lamp of the spheres, and you are the lamp of the kingdom. The sun is the lamp of water and clay, and you are the lamp of spirit and heart. The sun is the lamp of this world, and you are the lamp of both this world and that world. “O Adam, though you are the chieftain in the register of the chosen and the title-page of the book of the prophets, how can you be on the same road with MuḤammad? For you were struck by the pain of the address of Fall down from it, all together [2:38], and he is celebrating the joy of who took His servant by night [17:1].
وَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُنِيرًا
📘 O Prophet! Surely We sent thee as a witness, a good-news bringer, and a warner, inviting to God by His leave, and a light-giving lamp. “O paragon of the world! O master of the children of Adam! O pride of the Arabs and the Per-sians! O caressed by the gentleness of eternity! O foremost in earth and honored in heaven! You are a paragon whose explications are the arrangement of the necklace of salvation, whose proofs are the untying of the knots of difficulties, whose sayings are the edict of felicities, whose doings are the guidebook of generous acts, whose utterances are the capital of noble qualities, whose glances are the adornment of beautiful deeds”-upon him be the most excellent of prayers and the most ample of felicitations! Surely We sent thee with the truth [2:119]. “We, who are unique in divinity and peerless in unity, separate from creation in Essence and attributes, qualified by magnificence, creator of earth and heaven, shelter of every beggar and comfort of everyone familiar, knower of the secrets of cre- ation and witness of the deeds of all, We sent thee as a witness, a good-news bringer, and a warner. We sent you to the creatures to give news of Our gentleness to the familiar, for they are worthy of caresses, and to warn the strangers, for they are worthy of being melted. Give good news to the friends that the house of felicity has been decorated for them and warn the enemies that the prison of hell has been heated up for them.” And a light-giving lamp. “O paragon! The sun is the lamp of heaven, and you are the lamp of earth. The sun is the lamp of this world, and you are the lamp of the religion. The sun is the lamp of the spheres, and you are the lamp of the kingdom. The sun is the lamp of water and clay, and you are the lamp of spirit and heart. The sun is the lamp of this world, and you are the lamp of both this world and that world. “O Adam, though you are the chieftain in the register of the chosen and the title-page of the book of the prophets, how can you be on the same road with MuḤammad? For you were struck by the pain of the address of Fall down from it, all together [2:38], and he is celebrating the joy of who took His servant by night [17:1].
وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِأَنَّ لَهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ فَضْلًا كَبِيرًا
📘 And give good news to the faithful that they will have a great bounty from God. “O MuḤammad! Give good news to the faithful that they will have a beautiful caress from Me, an endless generosity, a complete bounty-response for the supplicator, bestowal for the asker, help for the striver, increase for the grateful, reward for the obedient. Give them the good news that when I chose them, I saw the faults. I did not approve before I had examined the hidden things. With My own unneediness I chose the servants as they are. Give them the good news that what was there at first is today the same-a cloud raining down everlasting kindness for the faithful, bounty without end, favor without bounds. Give them the good news that even if a servant has many offenses, the bounty of the Patron is more than that, for every deed of a doer in every state is worthy of himself.” All this that you have heard comes from the great bounty, but it is not the great bounty itself, for the great bounty is indeed another state and another caress-a spiritual life of delight with a hundred thousand hidden drums, an everlasting resurrection. The soul is mixed with companion- ship, the spirit clinging to its desire, the heart drowned in the light of finding. Because of the drowning, the servant does not discern the seeking from the finding. Because of the radiance of finding, it cannot be expressed. He burns in the fire of love and does not turn back from joy. With the tongue of his state he keeps on saying, “I keep on throwing the spirit-incense on the fire of passion. The spirit is Your servant-it is not that I am generous. When passion for You has burned away my spirit, I will contrive to find a hundred spirits more.”
۞ تُرْجِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ وَتُؤْوِي إِلَيْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ ۖ وَمَنِ ابْتَغَيْتَ مِمَّنْ عَزَلْتَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰ أَنْ تَقَرَّ أَعْيُنُهُنَّ وَلَا يَحْزَنَّ وَيَرْضَيْنَ بِمَا آتَيْتَهُنَّ كُلُّهُنَّ ۚ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَلِيمًا
📘 (Thou canst defer whom thou wilt of them�) [33:51]. The commentators of the Qur�an said: �This verse was revealed when some of the wives of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, felt jealous [of other co-wives] so much so that they harmed him and asked for increase in their maintenance. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not sleep with them in the same bed for a month until the verse of choice [33:29] was revealed. Allah, exalted is He, commanded him to ask them to choose between this worldly life and the Afterlife. He was commanded to divorce those who chose this worldly life and keep whoever among them chose Allah, glorified is He, and His Messenger as mothers of the believers who will never marry after him. He was also given permission to receive anyone of them he wanted to receive and defer anyone he wanted to defer; they had to be content whether or not he apportioned something for them, and regardless of whether or not he prefers some over the others with regard to the apportioning of provision and the time spent with them. It was all up to him to do as he wished. All of them accepted these terms. However, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, gave an equal part of maintenance to all his wives, even though Allah, exalted is He, had granted him wide compass [in his dealings with them]�. Abu �Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki informed us> �Abd al-Malik ibn al-Hasan ibn Yusuf al-Saqati> Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Halwani> Yahya ibn Ma�in> �Abbad ibn �Abbad> �Asim al-Ahwal> Mu�adhah> �A�ishah who said: �After the verse (Thou canst defer whom thou wilt of them�) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to seek permission from us [to go to another of his wives] when it was the turn of one of us [to spend time with him]�. Mu�adhah asked her: �What did you use to say?� I used to say: �If this is my turn, I would not prefer anyone else to have you instead of me!� This was narrated by Bukhari> Hibban ibn Musa> Ibn al-Mubarak and also by Muslim> Shurayh ibn Yunus> �Abbad; and both �Abbad and Ibn al-Mubarak related it from �Asim.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَدْخُلُوا بُيُوتَ النَّبِيِّ إِلَّا أَنْ يُؤْذَنَ لَكُمْ إِلَىٰ طَعَامٍ غَيْرَ نَاظِرِينَ إِنَاهُ وَلَٰكِنْ إِذَا دُعِيتُمْ فَادْخُلُوا فَإِذَا طَعِمْتُمْ فَانْتَشِرُوا وَلَا مُسْتَأْنِسِينَ لِحَدِيثٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكُمْ كَانَ يُؤْذِي النَّبِيَّ فَيَسْتَحْيِي مِنْكُمْ ۖ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ ۚ وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُؤْذُوا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَنْ تَنْكِحُوا أَزْوَاجَهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكُمْ كَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمًا
📘 (O Ye who believe! Enter not the dwellings of the Prophet�) [33:53]. Most of the commentators of the Qur�an said: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Zaynab bint Jahsh, he organised a wedding feast in which was offered dates and a mush of wheat and he slaughtered a sheep. Anas said: �My mother Umm Sulaym sent him a container made of stone. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, then commanded me to invite his Companions to eat and so I did. Groups of people came, ate and then left. I said: �O Prophet of Allah, I have invited everybody and there is no one else to invite�. He said: �Take away your food�. They took away the food and people left, except for three people who stayed in the room talking among themselves. They stayed so long that they annoyed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, who was extremely bashful [such that he could not ask them to leave]. And so this verse was revealed, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, drew a veil between him and me� �. Muhammad ibn �Abd al-Rahman al-Faqih informed us> Abu Umar Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> �Imran ibn Musa ibn Mujashi�> �Abd al-A�la ibn Hammad al-Nursi> al-Mu�tamir ibn Sulayman> his father> Abu Majlaz> Anas ibn Malik who said: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Zaynab ibn Jahsh, he invited people to a wedding ceremony. People ate and then remained in their seats talking to each other. The Prophet made as if he was preparing himself to leave but people did not get the hint. He then left the room and people left with him, except for three people who remained sitting. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, returned and found them still sitting, he went out again. When they saw this, the three men left. I went and informed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, that they had left. He returned and entered his room. I wanted to enter with him but he drew the curtain between him and me. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Ye who believe! Enter not the dwellings of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time�) up to His words (Lo! that in Allah�s sight would be an enormity)�.
إِنْ تُبْدُوا شَيْئًا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا
📘 If you show something or hide it, surely God is knower of everything. Since you know that the Real is aware of your deeds and states, that He knows and sees both what you hide and what you show, well then, always be at His threshold. Keep your activity rectified by following knowledge, eating permitted food, and constant devotions. Discipline your words by recitation of the Qur'an, constant apology, and giving good advice. Keep your character traits pure from everything that is dust on the religion's road and blockage of the well-trodden path of the Tariqah, such as niggardliness, eye-service, rancor, avarice, and covetousness. A great man was asked, “What is the precondition of servanthood?” He said, “Purity and truthfulness. Purity from every defilement, and truthfulness in every adornment.” The defilements are niggardliness, eye-service, and craving. The adornments are generosity, trust, and contentment. The sentence, “No god but God,” includes both statements. No god is the negation of defilement, but God is the affirmation of adornment. When the servant says “No god,” he uproots every defilement and every veil of the road. Then the beauty of the words “but God” shows its face and adorns the servant with the attributes of adornment. Then he is taken, adorned and trimmed, before MuṣṬafā so that he may receive him with “My community!” If the influence of No god does not appear to MuṣṬafā and if he does not see the beauty of the robe of but God, he will not receive him with “My community!” Rather, he will say, “Away with you, away!”
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
📘 (Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet�) [33:56]. Abu Sa'id informed us> Ibn Abi 'Amr al-Naysaburi> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> al-Mu'ammil ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Isa> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu Hudhayfah> Sufyan> al-Zubayr ibn 'Adiyy> 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla> Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah who said: �It was said to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: 'We know how to salute you, but how do we invoke blessings on you?' And so this verse was revealed (Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation)�. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Hamdan al-'Adl informed us> Abu'l-'Abbas Ahmad ibn 'Isa al-Washsha'> Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Suli> al-Riyashi> al-Asma'i who said: �I heard al-Mahdi say from the pulpit of [the grand mosque of] al-Basrah: 'Allah has commanded you with something that He Himself has started first when He said (Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation). Through this, Allah has preferred the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, over all other messengers and singled you out from all other communities. Do, therefore, meet Allah's bounty with gratitude' �. I heard master Abu 'Uthman al-Hafiz say that he heard Imam Sahl ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman say: �The honour that Allah, exalted is He, bestowed upon our Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, by His saying (Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet) is more far-reaching and more complete than the honour bestowed upon Adam, peace be upon him, when the angels were ordered to prostrate to him. This is because it is not conceivable that Allah be with the angels upon the bestowal of that honour. However, Allah, exalted is He, has informed that He Himself showers blessings on the Prophet, and then He informed that the angels do shower blessings upon him. Therefore, an honour which ensues from Him is much far-reaching than an honour which ensues from the angels only and which is inconceivable that Allah be with them upon its bestowal�. What Sahl has said is taken from the saying of al-Mahdi. He might have come across it, adopted some of it and explained it further. He also compared it with the honour bestowed upon Adam and showed that it is more far-reaching and complete than it. It is also mentioned in the rigorously authenticated collections of prophetic sayings the following: Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Isa ibn 'Amrawayh> Ibrahim ibn Sufyan> Muslim> Qutaybah and 'Ali ibn Hajar> Isma'il ibn Ja'far> al-'Ala'> his father> Abu Hurayrah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever invokes blessings on me once, Allah will invoke blessings upon him ten times�.
وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ بِغَيْرِ مَا اكْتَسَبُوا فَقَدِ احْتَمَلُوا بُهْتَانًا وَإِثْمًا مُبِينًا
📘 (And those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly�) [33:58]. 'Ata' reported that Ibn 'Abbas said: �Once, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be well pleased with him, saw a girl from the Helpers with her beauty uncovered. He disliked seeing her beauty and hit her. She complained to her family about him and, as a result, they went out to him in order to hurt him. Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse about this incident�. Muqatil said: �This verse was revealed about 'Ali ibn Abi Talib who used to be harmed and maligned by a group of hypocrites�. Al-Dahhak and al-Suddi said: �This verse was revealed about those adulterers who used to roam the streets of Medina and follow the women who come out at night to relieve themselves. When they saw a woman, they approached her and winked at her. If the woman did not say anything, they followed her; but if she rebuked them, they left her alone. Actually, these adulterers were only after slave girls. But at that time, freewomen were not distinguishable from slave-girls. All women used to go out wearing a chemise and a headscarf. The women complained to their husbands who mentioned the matter to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. The proof for the soundness of the above opinion is the saying of Allah, exalted is He (O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them�) [33:59]. Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Abu 'Ali al-Faqih> Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Junayd> Ziyad ibn Ayyub> Hushaym> Husayn> Abu Malik who said: �The believing women were in the habit of going out at night to relieve themselves, but the hypocrites used to approach and malign them. This verse was revealed about this�. Said al-Suddi: �The houses of Medina used to be narrow. [For this reason,] women used to wait until nightfall in order to go out to relieve themselves. The corrupt of Medina also used to go out at night. Whenever they saw a woman with a cover, they said: 'This is a freewoman', and they left her alone. But whenever they saw a woman without cover, they said: 'This is a slave', and tempted her to commit adultery. Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse about this matter�.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا
📘 O you who have faith, be wary of God and speak proper words. Proper words are the words of tawḤīd. TawḤīd is the basis of the religion and the greatest pillar of the submission. The beginning of all the sciences is tawḤīd, the basis of all the recognitions is tawḤīd. The partition between enemy and friend is tawḤīd, the fixity of the seven heavens and the seven earths is through tawḤīd. The light of the two realms of being and the two worlds comes from the light of tawḤīd. The first pearl from the oyster shell of recognition is tawḤīd, the first mark of finding the Haqiqah tawḤīd. When you put tawḤīd in place, your gaze takes on the form of heedfulness, your tongue be- comes the treasury of wisdom, your hearing the oyster shell of the pearl of the Trust, your heart the center point of contemplation, your secret core the place where passion puts down its saddlebags. MuṣṬafā said, “TawḤīd is the fee to the Garden, and tawḤīd is sufficient as worship”: TawḤīd is the price of the Garden and tawḤīd suffices for all acts of worship. TawḤīd is not that you say that He is one. True tawḤīd is that you be one for Him. He-ma- jestic is His majesty-is solitary and unique. He wants the servant solitary and unique. The unique man has no use for middling passion; middling passion is not fit for the unique man. Either passion, or blame, or the road of safety- the arrow of trial has no target but man's spirit. If you are passionate, toss your shield into the ocean- otherwise, stick to the shore, or your grief will have no end.
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسَانُ ۖ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا
📘 Surely We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it and feared it, and man carried it. Surely he was a great wrongdoer, deeply ignorant. For a time Adam the Chosen-that first wayfarer, that wellspring of beginningless gentleness, that coffer of the wonders of omnipotence, that jewel-box of the gentleness of the Haqiqah, that shoot in the garden of generosity-was kept between Mecca and Taif in the cradle of the covenant of recognitions. The ill-fortuned, ill-eyed Iblis passed by. With the hand of envy he shook Adam's makeup and found it empty. He said, “This creature will not be self-possessed. He is empty, and nothing comes forth from something empty.” Beginningless good fortune replied on behalf of Adam: “Wait a few days until the falcon of his mystery takes flight! The first prey it hunts will be you.” The abandoned and accursed Iblis saw Adam's clay, but he did not see his heart. He saw the form, but he did not see the attribute. He saw his outwardness but did not see his inwardness. No one can put a seal on fire. You can put a seal on dust, because dust is receptive to seals. “When We brought Adam into existence from dust and clay, the wisdom was to place the seal of the Trust on the clay of his heart, for We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth.” He brought a handful of dust into existence and burned it with the fire of love. He gave it a place on the carpet of expansiveness. Then He offered the Trust to the world of form. The heav- ens, the earths, and the mountains refused. Adam came forth like a man and put out his hand. It was said, “O Adam, it is not being offered to you. Why do you want to receive it?” He said, “Because I am burnt, and someone burnt can only receive.” On the day when fire was deposited in stone, the stone was made to promise not to submit its head until it saw someone burnt. Do you fancy that this fire is going to come out into the open with the strength of your forearm? No, no, don't suppose that. It will only come out with the interces- sion of someone burnt.
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